Memorial Day, Flag Day, Independence Day: A three-peat, in just five weeks, of enduring reasons why we should be proud of our country, for better or for worse, and why we must revere the symbolism of our Stars and Stripes.
Hand-sewn by Betsy Ross, as legend has it, in 1775 on orders from George Washington, the 13-star and 13-stripe design was commemorated by John Adams in a June 14, 1777, resolution to the Continental Congress in Philadelphia.
Between those two occurrences, 24 lawyers and 32 other patriots signed a Declaration of Independence from a litany of tyrannical abuses. As signatories of the Dear George letter to the King of England, they assented to “mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our Sacred Honor.”
Many lost their lives and fortunes as a result. Some fought and died during the ensuing war, or later due to hardships encountered because their homes were destroyed and their assets pirated.
Whenever we “mutually pledge” our allegiance to that flag and to this republic, 230 years after the Fourth of July 1776, we do it as individuals who are allied, indivisibly and symbiotically, in the pursuit of liberty and justice for all.
We do not make this pledge because we are required to, but freely because we believe in the principles that 56 patriots bequeathed to us in sound mind. We realize that it is not the flag that protects the rights we were born with, but the Constitution and Bill of Rights that codify them.
What if we had to pledge obeisance, however, rather than allegiance to the flag and the republic? Before World War II, school children began the pledge with hands on hearts, then while saying “to the flag,” extended arms outright. That was too much like the Nazi salute to be prolonged.
But when our flag takes on an omnipotence beyond its role as a symbol of liberty, the freedoms it represents become vulnerable. If our elected leaders can prohibit burning the flag, as an expression of disagreement, that is one freedom down and too few remaining.
Congress seems poised to enact such a proscription – the very first amendment to the Bill of Rights in its entire 215 years of existence. If that happens, these United States of America will join despotic China, Iran and Cuba as nations that throttle one truly significant freedom.
It's troubling enough that our republic sometimes shows an inclination toward divisibility over challenges to policy, both foreign and domestic, when better results might be achieved through some unity of expression.
What can be more extreme than zealotry, under the guise of protected religion, that is manifested by glee at the deaths of service members on active duty? The mantra of these misguided souls is “God hates fags.” They profess that because our country is tolerant of all sexual orientations, God must hate our military.
President Bush encountered the sign, “Thank God for dead soldiers,” on Memorial Day in Arlington National Cemetery. The Respect for America's Fallen Heroes Act that he has signed may not fully deter repetitions.
Mourners have been insulated from flagrant protestations by members of the Patriot Guard Riders, including at least one Illinois lawyer (see coverage on page 17). Proudly bearing flags, they provide escorts for funeral processions and honor guards for the pallbearers and families.
The contrast between the elegance and the ugliness has been freely expressed so far in relatively peaceable confrontations. Consider it ample evidence that the Supreme Court was correct in 1998 to squelch any attempt to contradict the magnificence of the Bill of Rights.
The wrongheaded, election-year effort to amend the First (and foremost) Constitutional Amendment is at best unseemly, and at worst, perilous.